Posted in Marketing March 6th, 2010 by admin - Be the first to comment
In part one we talked about the use of social media types like Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter. But these are all incredibly informal means of marketing, and are often unsuccessful for those who are working as consultant, freelancers, or want to market themselves as a service rather than a whole business.
There are several ways to do this, but your two best bets will be professional networking sites, professional directories, personal (interactive) websites, and blogs. Each one of these gives you an easy way to present yourself to potential clients, customers, and even other employers or investors. Because the formats are specifically created to provide something serious and well made it will give you a great platform for marketing your most important asset: yourself. Read more…
Posted in Marketing February 7th, 2010 by admin - Be the first to comment
Social media has changed the face of more than just the Internet, but of communication as well. It makes it easier than ever to keep in contact with friends, family, and even strangers from all over the world. But there are business implications as well, and many have been utilized by business owners running small companies. It is a great way of getting the message out for free, and any good business owner will tell you to take full advantage of free advertising when you hear about it.
The problem is deciding what kind of social media to focus on. Reuters did an article last year (“Small business, social media not mixing”) that gave some interesting statistics. Two thirds of 500 small businesses that were asked had found no help from sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn, and had not sought any other social media resources to assist them in better marketing their business. This was because most didn’t know what was available to them, and so missed out on the various sources opened to them through social media.
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Posted in Marketing January 22nd, 2010 by admin - Be the first to comment
Branding is one of the most important elements to any business. Without a brand you cannot create customer loyalty, which will keep your profits from flourishing. It is more beneficial to keep a customer than to find ten new ones, which should show you just how crucial establishing a brand really is. It will also make you recognizable in a crowd, which will draw in new customers that will, in turn, become loyal shoppers of your product or service.
But it is one thing to know what branding is; it is another to know how to do it. The main thing is knowing the principles behind it, so you can begin creating a plan for marketing your business. Each one is another step that you have to check off before you know you are making the progress necessary to becoming a recognizable brand. Read more…
Posted in Marketing November 17th, 2009 by admin - Be the first to comment
The world has moved into a digital age, and as such many businesses are taking their campaigns online, relying on the world wide web to do their marketing for them. But if you are relying on the net completely, you are losing potential business. You are also losing the chance to create customer loyalty, and attract that market that exists right outside your front door.
So, what can you do to get to this important customer base? Try doing things the old fashioned way, and relying on face to face marketing to get you the clients you need. Business cards are a traditional and effective way of doing this. People will carry a business card in their wallet for weeks, sometimes months, and when they find themselves in need of a service their minds will often go to that card before anything else. This is an effective means of branding that can really benefit your business, especially as a small of medium sized business that doesn’t have a large budget for advertising.
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Posted in Marketing November 14th, 2009 by admin - Be the first to comment
Last week, we talked about the importance of finding a niche market to establish your small business in. Today, we will touch on why, and how, you have to find a target market to advertise to. This is more than creating a general idea of who might be interested. Instead, you will be narrowing down to a select group for each product, and sticking with that group until you have earned enough to expand.
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Posted in Marketing November 3rd, 2009 by admin - Be the first to comment
A few years ago I started my first business: selling fashion jewelries only. I had absolutely no experience in either jewelry or online business and boy I wondered how the business could lasted that long after all the mistakes I made. Anyhow, one of the most basic mistake I made was trying to satisfy everyone: I tried to build up stocks that would satisfy the needs of all types of customers, it’s not a surprise that I couldn’t impress anyone. All that money, effort and time went out of the window was not completely wasted however, I did get one very important lesson: You have to concentrate your capital, or what they usually say in marketing courses: Finding your niche (I wish I took those courses before *_*)
Over the years the term ‘niche marketing’ has gotten a rather bad reputation. It tends to conjure images of shifty online businessmen attempting to sell programs that promise to make you millions in a few short months, and to give you everything you need to create a successful company with no work. But this is an unfair generalization that has undermined a basic principle of business for far too long. It has also left many company owners struggling to make end’s meet as their ventures fail. Read more…
Posted in Marketing October 6th, 2009 by admin - Be the first to comment
Small businesses commonly make the mistake of thinking that branding a method that can only be properly employed by large, multinational corporations. This is a misunderstanding that create a number of lost expansion opportunities for those looking to run a successful company. Branding is not just used as a way of competing with other huge companies that dominate the business world. It is a way of making yourself stand out amongst the local and Internet competition, against the sea of faces that make up the land of small businesses.
While there is a huge list of ways that you can utilize branding for your own venture, there are a few basic guidelines you can follow to correctly put it into context for a company of your size. Hopefully, using these tips will allow you to make that size grow exponentially, and give you the ability to expand into a greater competitor. Read more…
Posted in Marketing September 10th, 2009 by admin - Be the first to comment
Unless you are in some industries where you wouldn’t want the customers return to you or have them tell good things about you, keeping customers happy is one of the utmost important tasks a business has to do. (BTW, if you know any industry falls into the above industries please let me know. Even the ‘death-care” industry cares about their customers).
customer service
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Posted in Marketing August 4th, 2009 by admin - Comments (4)
I bought my Lenovo X200 tablet 3 months ago, and I absolutely love it to death, I love the design and the superb presale customer service and everything, until I got one key on my keyboard broken and requested for warranty service… This is what they told me after 3 weeks communicating back and forth to customer support reps:
Regret to inform you, for this case, management is unable to honour you for the keyboard part replacement.
It is due the requerst does not meet the replacement policy & criteria.
It is an industrial practice that machine which had physical impact does covered in warranty.
Again apologise, as I’m not be able to proceed to absorb the cost, as the request has been declined by the Management.
I appreciate for your co operation and kind patience.
I hope that our future service opportunities result in nothing less than your complete satisfaction. Read more…
